U.S. Senator Bob Menendez is the latest high-profile politician to claim that the extravagant gifts he accepted over a period of several years were nothing more than presents from a good friend. When are gifts from friends considered bribes? The jury’s job is made more complicated by the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to narrow the definition of “official actions” in corruption cases. Read more

Coalition board members Alan Larson and Michael Hershman urge Virginia gubernatorial candidates Ralph Northam and Ed Gillespie to lead by example and disclose their campaign and personal finances. Read more

In general, any independent review exercise, whether it leads to a certification or not, can help companies take a critical look at their program, detect potential gaps, and ultimately help strengthen their compliance program. However, business is not static and a certification is not an assurance that the program will continue operating effectively even as the corporate environment changes. Read more

Shruti Shah of the anti-corruption nonprofit Transparency International USA, said being connected to several businesses is legal, but makes it difficult to get a comprehensive look at companies. “The problem is you can open companies without having to disclose who really beneficially owns these companies,” she said. Read more

The United States has been subject to increased criticism for its lax approach to anonymous companies, particularly in the aftermath of the Panama Papers. However, there are recent and positive signs that the U.S. is beginning to address the potential threat that anonymous companies pose to our security and economy. Read more

The Treasury says 30 percent of buyers involved in deals since Geographic Targeting Orders were established last year have been deemed suspicious in previous reports. By the time their names are revealed, such buyers have already parked their money, says Shruti Shah, vice president of the Coalition for Integrity, a transparency NGO. “The transaction is already done,” she says. Instead, she argues that real-estate brokers should have to do their due diligence before the purchase is made. “The sad part is this can be done without legislation; it can be done through rule-making by the Treasury,” she says. Read more

A number of countries where the Trump Organization conducts business rank high on the Corruption Perception Index put out by the international anti-corruption group Transparency International, said Shruti Shah, a due diligence expert at the anti-corruption nonprofit Coalition for Integrity. Shah told HuffPost that these deals were “troubling not just because of the CPI score of the countries mentioned, but also because, in some cases like Azerbaijan, the business partners are closely associated with government officials.” Read more

While transparency advocates are very much in favor of the effort, they say tightening laws around shell companies still leaves large gaps in America’s defenses against money-laundering. “The US is getting on the train in the right direction but there’s more work still to do,” says Shruti Shah, vice president of the Coalition for Integrity, formerly the US branch of Transparency International. Read more

“You’ve seen it in countries all over the world where they’ve appointed family members, whether it’s their son, daughter, in-laws — it provides for tremendous opportunities for corruption,” said Shruti Shah, an international anti-corruption expert at Coalition for Integrity, a good-government nonprofit. “People who want to curry favor find their way to provide favors to family members as a way to get closer to the person in power.” Read more